Aids to Audience Decision Making 151a space of 3 points is preferred. Type that is set solid has a dense appearance (see Figure 4.2), like
the type in many contracts and credit card agreements. Although readers dislike type that is set
solid,^36 they also dislike type with too much space between the lines. However, an added blank line
between paragraphs or between bullet points on slides and a blank space between columns of type
can actually increase legibility.^37
Unjustifi ed Right Margins
Text with unjustifi ed right margins, or ragged edges, in documents or on presentation slides can
be more legible than right-justifi ed text that forms a straight margin down the right-hand side.
In a study conducted at NASA, 61% of the readers surveyed preferred unjustifi ed right margins
to justifi ed margins when reading technical reports.^38 A study of text presented online fi nds that
unjustifi ed right margins can increase online reading speed by 10%.^39 However, several other studies
of adult readers fi nd that justifi ed and unjustifi ed texts are read at similar speeds and with the same
level of comprehension.^40
Short, Familiar Words
Whether spoken or written, some words are more easily perceived and recognized than others. Eas-
ily perceived and recognized words include short words, high-frequency words, personal pronouns,
concrete words, and words that are easy to pronounce.^41 Long, diffi cult to understand, and less
frequently used words take longer to recognize^42 and are harder to remember.^43
Semantic variables can also influence word recognition. For example, animate nounssuch as investors are easier to process and recall than inanimate nouns such as investments.^44
A review of the psycholinguistic research concludes that the key to word difficulty in isola-
tion lies not in word frequency but in the semantic variables of animateness, affirmativeness,
and concreteness.^45
Visible Speakers
Listeners’ perception of speech involves sensing and recognizing both phonemes and complete
words. Speakers who allow listeners to see their faces make it easier for listeners to recognize
their words, especially in a noisy room.^46 Familiarity with a speaker’s face also facilitates speech
recognition, even for audience members with no hearing defi cits.^47 In addition, when listeners
are able to see a speaker’s head movements, which are strongly correlated with the pitch and
amplitude, or loudness, of the speaker’s voice, they can more easily recognize the speaker’s words
and syllables.^48
FIGURE 4.2 A Paragraph Set Solid
Reading audiences read faster when text has 1 to 4 points of leading, or space
between the lines, than when the type is set solid—when no space is
inserted between the lines.^35 For a 10-point type size, D VSDFH RI SRLQWV LV
SUHIHUUHG. Type that is set solid has a dense appearance, like the type in
many contractsandcreditcardagreements. $OWKRXJK UHDGHUV disliketypethat
is setsolid^36 WKH\ also dislike type with too much space between the lines.
However, an added blank line between paragraphs or between bullet points on
slides and a blank space between columns of type can actually increase legibility.^37